Revell announces new line of snap kits

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Noticed that Revell announced new kits on twitter today, they are called Revell Essentials, essentially pre decorated snap kits, kind of a step up from snap kits as they will require glue, no clue on how detailed they'd will be. new kits will be the 2013 ZR1 Camaro, 2013 Challenger, and 2015 Mustang

"A consistent level of detail and accuracy assures every modeler that the kit they buy will be the most accurate representation possible of their favorite subject and confirms the fact that Revell® kits are the best value for the money. Revell® remains committed to the foundation of the brand: Interaction with quality products, authenticity of experience, and, above all, fun."

If only! lol!

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It really sounds like a dressed up final resort for them. As they know, if they can't attract new builders in the next few years, they will lose as a business, entirely. The whole article sound like a negative to us, who have been around here long enough to see their previous ups and down.

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Noticed that Revell announced new kits on twitter today, they are called Revell Essentials, essentially pre decorated snap kits, kind of a step up from snap kits as they will require glue, no clue on how detailed they'd will be. new kits will be the 2013 ZR1 Camaro, 2013 Challenger, and 2015 Mustang

BriefingWire.com, 2/17/2014 - NEW YORK, February 14, 2014 – Today more than ever, parents look for toys that pull their children away from isolating electronic gadgets. Chicago-based Revell® — a worldwide hobby industry leader — now unveils two new groups of plastic model kits that have been created to keep kids (and all developing model builders) engaged in a fun, creative, authentic experience.

New Revell Snap-Tite™ models have fewer than twelve total parts. Even six-year-olds can put them together in just minutes and begin to play! Featuring durable bodies and smooth, rolling wheels, the cars in this entry-level line include such popular titles as the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang. At last month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and again at this month’s Chicago Auto Show, the Mustang earned raves from over 10,000 children who participated in Revell-sponsored Make ’n Take™ model building events.

Modelers who are ready to step up from snap assembly to using glue now have an easier option of their own: new Revell glue kits. They can develop the skills needed to succeed with glue and brush-on paints, without yet having to master delicate spray finishing techniques, or dealing with tiny parts. This new line will include the 2013 Camaro® ZL1™ and 2013 Challenger SRT8, and is packaged in window boxes to spotlight their attractively pre-finished car bodies.

“The plastic model category has been stagnant for decades,” Revell Vice President and General Manager Lou Aguilera Aguilera explains. “We set out to make the first model-building experience a more enjoyable experience so that kids and first-time modelers will want to repeat the activity and become passionate about this hobby.”

See the new Revell Model Kits at the Revell / Estes booth #5363 during the 111th American International Toy Fair, taking place February 16-19, 2014, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. For more information about the show, visit ToyFairNY.com.

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I don't see it as a 'final resort' but as an innovative approach to engaging young, new builders.

Some of the Snap-Tite kits of the past have not been very user-friendly to youngsters, requiring skills and dexterity beyond the little guys' and little gals' abilities. To revamp snappers with a goal of making them more kiddy-friendly is a smart move.

The pre-finished basic glue kits are a good idea, too. Again, the goal would appear to be a product attractive to novice builders who are fearful of trying the bold step of painting. Whatever gets a potential new builder over the initial hump (past the first fears) will be a good thing overall for the hobby.

Both target audiences will undoubtedly move into the classic, more complex kits - that we all are familiar with - once their self-confidence allows.

Sounds like smart business, not last-gasp.

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It sounds very similar to what both Revell (and AMT) tried a few years ago with their pre-finished line of kits, based on their snap-together kit offerings, and similar to what already does with many of their SnapTite kits, the Star Wars line especially.

The Pro Finish line comes to mind, though these new kits will have a much lower parts count:

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Not a last gasp at all. (and thanks for your enthusiasm!) What I see is a model company that is doing all the right things. Note that Revell has been investing big money in new tooling for the adult builders market, capitalizing on the Baby Boomers retiring and having more time to invest in hobbies. As they produce neat new kits that appeal to us, such as the '57 Ford, '32 Ford series, 49 Merc custom and woody... they've added kits that will sell well for eternity to their line. So their strategy is to be here long term!

It's evident that the 2015 Mustang Make and Take program at recent auto shows were a success, and we had no idea they were a pilot study for this new line of kits. Not only is Revell taking a positive step at attracting new and younger modelers to the hobby, but we all will be buying these kits too. I hear all the time "We want a (insert car name here), even if it's a curbside or snap kit!" Well, here we go. Obvious that there's less of an investment in tooling these up than a full detail kit. So guys like us will be buying and building them as breaks from more detailed projects and quick paint and detailing exercises. And there will be those of us who will use them as a basis for more detailed projects.

We all will whine that kids aren't getting into the hobby, but what are we as a group doing to encourage that? We old goats, often called the 'lunatic fringe' only account for something like 5% of kit sales. Every time I go into Michaels, it seems the kits have all changed. And right after Christmas the model shelves were very bare. Somebody is buying those 95% of kits, and I'll bet a lot of them are bought and assembled by younger people. Not to our exacting standards, mind you, but built not much different than the way we built them as kids. And that's a good start.

As far as getting off our duffs and leading by example, NNL East will debut the new "Sports Compact" class, which will encompass what we call Tuners and modern subjects. This is the first time in my memory that we've added a class. And it's important that we do this to attract younger modelers who build models of cars that are relevant to us. While NNL East isn't a contest, and there won't be awards specifically for this category, it will provide a space for the modern subjects to be shown together, and a gathering space for everyone interested in this genre of modeling to meet and share ideas. And this is the spirit of what NNL is all about.

There is a new club in New Jersey called Diversified Scalerz, which is comprised mainly of younger guys who are into modern subjects. They have been coming to the region's shows, and have demonstrated that they want to be part of our overall community. So as a salute to them, and in the hope that they will encourage more young modelers into the hobby, we are happy to add this important class!

And it would be really nice if some of our cranky old dudes welcomed them!

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Every year I operate a couple of large Make-N-Take events and help at a couple more. It involves distributing several hundred Revell MNT kits to kids 12 and under (the majority are 10 and under).

They love model kits! They love building them, they love stickering them up (often in imaginative ways us old geezers would never think of!). And they love taking them home. And playing with them.

Every once in awhile, I see a youngster show up at a contest with entries ~ a youngster who went through a Revell Make-N-Take event or two previously. So we know the introduction to the hobby works.

The only time the enthusiasm was less than stellar involved one particular kit that was more complicated than it should have been for kids. {Sidebar: The all-time favorite is the current '69 Camaro Z/28 SS.}

More power to Revell; they seem to have cornered this entry-market.

Moebius has zeroed in on the adult market. Simplified snap kits and Make-n-Take clone programs would not work for them.

Round2 would be wise to try something like Revell's Make-N-Take program, although I recognize two important limiting factors. (1) Revell really has a lock on the market, and (2) Round2 probably enjoys some spill-over without having to invest. I'm sure not too many potential consumers pay so much attention to branding.

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I reserve to throw anti-Revell rant at a later date once we know what the two new pre-decorated glue kits are like. If they're Revell's attempt at the AMT Showroom Replica kits, I certainly hope they come with something more looking like a chassis than the crude promo blobs that are under the AMT kits. Something simplified in a glue kit in the vain of the Early 90's Snap-Tite full detail kits would be nice. There will be a way to strip the paint off the things, although it would be interesting to see how they'd be received in any kind of contest/display setting -- there are still people who believe the only '58 Edsel is the pre-painted one, and every time one comes up a fiery debate about "assembling a pre-painted kit and daring to enter it in a REAL model contest" comes up.

I get the point of keeping the '15 Mustang to it's 6 part auto show configuration, albeit hopefully with something resembling the car's chassis rather than flat plastic plate that it comes with now. However that really does limit what any serious modeler can do with it if it's not even going to have headlight & tail lights, etc. One can only hope there's a glue kit, or one of these pre-painted glue kits coming as a more robust solution to that "problem".

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I'm not an old timer, neither am I a new to the hobby builder. I'm only 29, but have been building since I was about 9. Snap kits or full detailed kits really didn't make a difference to me when I was younger-still goes the same. What draws me to a kit, is the subject matter and how accurate it should be. I've never seen any one younger-or even close to my age in a hobby store, or showing any interest in the models section of any store. The older corporate guys will never understand kids. I wish I could see revell in a positive light, I really do. But things seemed to have gone down hill since after the Binney and Smith ownership.

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Seems to me the success or failure of this endeavor will be solely based on marketing, getting the word out to the potential market.

Along these same lines the Make And Take programs could be more effective in an environment where there are more possible participants than say an adult oriented car / model show. Setting up at these venues pretty much guarantees a group of youngsters already exposed to the subject.

BriefingWire.com, 2/17/2014 - NEW YORK, February 14, 2014 – Today more than ever, parents look for toys that pull their children away from isolating electronic gadgets. Chicago-based Revell® — a worldwide hobby industry leader — now unveils two new groups of plastic model kits that have been created to keep kids (and all developing model builders) engaged in a fun, creative, authentic experience.

New Revell Snap-Tite™ models have fewer than twelve total parts. Even six-year-olds can put them together in just minutes and begin to play! Featuring durable bodies and smooth, rolling wheels, the cars in this entry-level line include such popular titles as the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang. At last month’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and again at this month’s Chicago Auto Show, the Mustang earned raves from over 10,000 children who participated in Revell-sponsored Make ’n Take™ model building events.

Modelers who are ready to step up from snap assembly to using glue now have an easier option of their own: new Revell glue kits. They can develop the skills needed to succeed with glue and brush-on paints, without yet having to master delicate spray finishing techniques, or dealing with tiny parts. This new line will include the 2013 Camaro® ZL1™ and 2013 Challenger SRT8, and is packaged in window boxes to spotlight their attractively pre-finished car bodies.

“The plastic model category has been stagnant for decades,” Revell Vice President and General Manager Lou Aguilera Aguilera explains. “We set out to make the first model-building experience a more enjoyable experience so that kids and first-time modelers will want to repeat the activity and become passionate about this hobby.”

See the new Revell Model Kits at the Revell / Estes booth #5363 during the 111th American International Toy Fair, taking place February 16-19, 2014, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. For more information about the show, visit ToyFairNY.com.

About Revell® *deleted the rest*

Maybe in revells and round2s case but the import companies seem to be selling well i wonder why?

Edited 17 Feb 2014 by Lownslow

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Though these are minimal detail snap kits, at least Revell is attempting to get younger modelers into the fold..I guess they realize they are going to run out of kit buyers if they continue to focus on the AARP crowd...

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“The plastic model category has been stagnant for decades,” Revell Vice President and General Manager Lou Aguilera Aguilera explains.

Maybe in revells and round2s case but the import companies seem to be selling well i wonder why?

If he's talking about dollars, it is pretty stagnant across the board - car, planes, armor, US companies, import companies, whatever. It's just that today we're selling fewer units but they're more expensive kits. You sell 10,000 at $20, 20,000 at $10, or 5,000 at $40, it's all the same. That's been the trend in the industry, fewer units but more advanced and thus more expensive kits. I just don't think Revell has gotten that much more advanced while they've certainly gotten more expensive. To be fair to them US car modelers have traditionally been the most reluctant segment to accept more advanced and thus more expensive kits - but we'll see how the Meng F-350 does to see if maybe that has changed. The times it was tried before (Accurate Miniatures' Can-Am McLarens and Corvette Grand Sports and Galaxie Ltd's 46 Chevy) didn't really have the sort of broad subject appeal that the F-350 has.

Maybe they think by bucking the trend and going simpler (with the snap kits and by simplifying construction with the pre-paints), they'll attract new modelers, but I'd be remiss not to mention that pre-paints have been tried several times before and have never really panned out.

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I agree with Tom Geiger and Danno ; this is a brilliant move on Revell's part !

If "a-step-up-in-between" series of kits were around when I was a youngster , I'd have been all over 'em ! At a certain age , I'd perceived snap-together kits as "beneath me" , while at the same time having difficulties with the fledgling glue-together kits ( Revell's 'Dark Ages' in the 70's , for example , were among the worst examples !) .

MPC's annuals were much easier ; however , they were all moulded in white at that time (i.e., post-1972 era) . I was still years away from spray painting bodies , so I was left with a collection of all-white builds ( ha ha ha ).

AMT's kits were , while vastly-superior to 70's Revell offerings , still full of small parts and were beyond my skill level.

I equate our hobby with the "1:1" hobby : if we "old timers" are a turnoff to potential fellow hobbiests , then we exhibit just as much guilt in reigning the death knell upon our hobby . It's like the "grey beards" at car shows ; act like an unmentionable part of the anatomy , and watch as youngsters leave in droves and avoid you at other shows .

I wish continued success to Revell , Round2 , et al. I hope that this programme is a runaway success for them

Edited 17 Feb 2014 by 1972coronet

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To be fair to them US car modelers have traditionally been the most reluctant segment to accept more advanced and thus more expensive kits - but we'll see how the Meng F-350 does to see if maybe that has changed. The times it was tried before (Accurate Miniatures' Can-Am McLarens and Corvette Grand Sports and Galaxie Ltd's 46 Chevy) didn't really have the sort of broad subject appeal that the F-350 has.

Oh, I think I'll come out and say what Brett so diplomatically tried to get across....

The average American car modeler is a whiney cheapskate! You can listen to them whine about when kits were $2 and the little Testors bottles were 15 cents. I've watched guys walk away from joining a club because they wouldn't pay the $12 annual dues. Every year someone has a hissy fit over the admission cost to NNL East. And you know what? They had a pack of cigarettes in their top pocket, probably a 2 pack, $16 a day habit!

Where did Accurate Miniatures and Galaxie go wrong? They listened to US. Everyone was clambering for more sophisticated, higher detail kits and these companies stupidly listened. And when they produced that product, what happened? The same guys who demanded those kits didn't respond with their wallet. Yea, half the modelers sat on the sidelines waiting for these kits to hit the Odd Lots store so they could buy them for $5. And that's the road to the demise of this hobby!

The Meng Ford F-350? It's not aimed at our market. It's being done in 1/24 scale for the Asian and European markets, where modeling is more widespread and modelers will pay realistic prices for the product. We'll see it at an import priced kit. Half the American modelers will not buy it because it's 1/24 and not 1/25, while the rest will balk and complain about the price!

And both Revell and Round 2 are in a 'damned if they do, damned if they don't' position. As witnessed, guys will complain about not getting kits, and then complain about the kits when we get them. Thankfully we are only 5% of the kit market.

There... I feel much better now!

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I equate our hobby with the "1:1" hobby : if we "old timers" are a turnoff to potential fellow hobbyists , then we exhibit just as much guilt in reigning the death knell upon our hobby . It's like the "grey beards" at car shows ; act like an unmentionable part of the anatomy , and watch as youngsters leave in droves and avoid you at other shows .

I wish continued success to Revell , Round2 , et al. I hope that this program is a runaway success for them

True enough...for the hobby to grow and thrive has to have a broad enough range of product that appeals to the young, adults, and the older core base. If a company focuses too much on one target demographic, they could alienate potential customers...consider Mobieus--I wonder how many builders under 60 they attract with their all-vintage current kit assortment.

Though at 43, I don't consider myself one of the 'old timers' even though I've been in the hobby 38 years...

Edited 17 Feb 2014 by Rob Hall

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I equate our hobby with the "1:1" hobby : if we "old timers" are a turnoff to potential fellow hobbiests , then we exhibit just as much guilt in reigning the death knell upon our hobby . It's like the "grey beards" at car shows ; act like an unmentionable part of the anatomy , and watch as youngsters leave in droves and avoid you at other shows .

I wish continued success to Revell , Round2 , et al. I hope that this programme is a runaway success for them

I see what you are talking about first hand locally with younger builders fleeing, and its very sad to be honest, the attitude alone from a lot of the age demo graphic is enough to send kids or young adults running, I have seen it ruin a so called "friendship" here over different thoughts and ideas and interest with stuff pertaining to the hobby, and that is sad, as we are just building models. But the other thing that I see that might be a big part of keeping kids/younger builders away is the way some guys in the hobby act like its "their hobby",and they dont want no young wipper snappers coming along and wanting to be different or what have you.

Its sort of like these guys act like its an elite club and you better like to build what they do, and have the same interest as they and have the same opinions about everything else in life , the entire mindset of the hobby is bad, and that is not going to be very inviting to younger builders.

And , lets look at the other aspect, you cant make kids want to build models, they have to "want to", so it doesnt matter how many kits Revell does that are aimed at the younger builders, if there is not interest, its not going to happen.

I will say that my local clubs here do a wonderful job at trying to get the kids interested with "Revell's Make And Take" program, there are I believe three times in the Phoenix Metro area that we do them, twice at the GoodGuys show, and one during Desert Scale Classic , and I must say that all the guys that volunteer do a wonderful job with helping the kids.

Edited 17 Feb 2014 by martinfan5

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Its sort of like these guys act like its an elite club and you better like to build what they do, and have the same interest as they and have the same opinions about everything else in life , the entire mindset of the hobby is bad, and that is not going to be very inviting to younger builders.

Agreed. Those of us who build in different categories can feel that. If you build factory stock or drag cars, you get loads of positive feedback when you post your builds. Those who build sports cars, light commercial etc, not so much.

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If he's talking about dollars, it is pretty stagnant across the board - car, planes, armor, US companies, import companies, whatever. It's just that today we're selling fewer units but they're more expensive kits. You sell 10,000 at $20, 20,000 at $10, or 5,000 at $40, it's all the same. That's been the trend in the industry, fewer units but more advanced and thus more expensive kits. I just don't think Revell has gotten that much more advanced while they've certainly gotten more expensive. To be fair to them US car modelers have traditionally been the most reluctant segment to accept more advanced and thus more expensive kits - but we'll see how the Meng F-350 does to see if maybe that has changed. The times it was tried before (Accurate Miniatures' Can-Am McLarens and Corvette Grand Sports and Galaxie Ltd's 46 Chevy) didn't really have the sort of broad subject appeal that the F-350 has.

Maybe they think by bucking the trend and going simpler (with the snap kits and by simplifying construction with the pre-paints), they'll attract new modelers, but I'd be remiss not to mention that pre-paints have been tried several times before and have never really panned out.

im talking in a subject matter sense, revell an r2 might reel them in but how are they gonna keep them reeled in?

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The funny thing is, too, is that when the Galaxie LTD Chevys and Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport kits were first released, their suggested retail prices were about that of what a standard Revell glue kit is today. I don't think the prices of the Galaxie kits have changed much, either.

I still think both companies would've been more successful had they chosen subjects with broader appeal as their initial ventures.

Although I have a limited income, I never balked at the AM and Galaxie prices. I own three AM Vettes and two and one half Galaxie Chevys. I saved up, then bought them. When the Meng Ford kit comes out, I will buy that one as well, regardless of cost. I even have the pricey ICM Opel. Funny how people who complain about these choices are also the first to jump up on the Tamiya (or whatever Japanese company) band wagon over what are essentially expensive curb sides (with exceptions of course) and sing to high heaven their praises.

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Funny how people who complain about these choices are also the first to jump up on the Tamiya (or whatever Japanese company) band wagon over what are essentially expensive curb sides (with exceptions of course) and sing to high heaven their praises.

Agreed.

Edited 18 Feb 2014 by Danno

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Noticed that Revell announced new kits on twitter today, they are called Revell Essentials, essentially pre decorated snap kits, kind of a step up from snap kits as they will require glue, no clue on how detailed they'd will be. new kits will be the 2013 ZR1 Camaro, 2013 Challenger, and 2015 Mustang

I'm kind of liking the subject matter - is it OK if I build them, too...

This is a good thing - something the kids can build without much supervision and some subjects that we will like.